Jan 2017 Update

January saw DOW 20,000 being attained before dropping under once again.  The post inauguration euphoria  beat a hasty retreat in the wake of record protests, a wave of executive orders and a record number of lawsuits filed against a president in his first eleven days.  In finance terms, this uncertainty translated into concerns about the the ability or  time required to effect change through the legislative process – in particular tax reform.  This month The S&P gained 1.79%.  while my portfolio recorded a gain of 3.51% largely due to the final significant merger completing.  After a great 2016, I’m making some changes in my 2017 strategy that will (hopefully) accelerate performance in 2018.  Meanwhile I’ll be content with a slight win versus the S&P this year.

Headlines impacting my portfolio:

• 1/5 – WMT ends V ban in Canada
• 1/9 – SBUX discontinues Evenings concept
• 1/10 – NWBI divests MD assets to SHBI
• 1/13 – LSBG/BHB merger completes
• 1/17 – ADP acquires Marcus Buckingham Co.
• 1/20 – IRM acquires Kane Office Archives LLC through BK court
• 1/23 – AMC acquires Nordic Cinema
• 1/24 – Executive order moving Keystone (TRP) forward signed
• 1/25 – DOW 20,000
• 1/25 – BLK moves 1T$ from STT to JPM
• 1/26 – JNJ to acquire ALIOY then spin R&D unit to ALIOY shareowners
• 1/30 – GDOT buys UniRush (RushCard)
• 1/31 – BX prices INVH IPO

Blog Updates:

posts under consideration for Feb are Methods to my Madness Pt 3 update, Anti-Trump strategy, My Coca-Cola strategy and The Commonality Between Trump and Me

Portfolio Updates:

• Added to CLX
• New position – CCLAY
• New position – BHB (LSBG merger)
• New position – SWRAY

Dividends:

• January delivered an increase of 15.46% over January 2016.  This requires normalization due to PEP and WRE paying in January rather than December, KO paying in December rather than January and BUSE paying in February.  On a normalized basis, this represents a Y/Y increase of 3.1% which is attributable to dividend increases (Y/Y).  This means my October purchases from merger proceeds were successful in maintaining my Jan,Apr,Jul,Oct income stream.
• January had a 3.0% increase over the prior quarter.
• Declared dividend increases averaged 7.44% with 19.65% of my portfolio delivering at least one raise (1 cut – YUM).
• Dividends received were 9.2% of total 2016 dividends and if the current run rate is maintained would exceed this total around October 15th.

Spinoffs:

The MET spin (Brighthouse Financial – BHF) remains pending.

Mergers:

Agrium/POT, JNS/HGG.L remain pending